Control in Canter!

[cyberpunkgrrl]

Heya!
Just after a bit of advice really!
Brief background info - I have a share with a 9 year old 17.1hh IDxTB mare who's been quite underworked recently. We're learning new things such as Corners and Stopping atm, and we've progressed from working in the school to being out in the field!

So, we went out in the field on Saturday, and she was rather excited. We had a wonderful trot (nicely collected, good impulsion, on the bit(!) and working really well) However, as soon as we went into canter it all fell apart - hollow back, head in the air, evading the bit and at one point the brakes went a bit awry! She's ridden out in a single jointed dutch gag after she realised that she could ignore the french link she's normally schooled in.

I'm considering the possibility of a running martingale so that she can't get her head high enough to ignore the bit (she's a big girl, and strong too!) and trying to work on transitions, but she's a different horse in the school (generally lazy) as she is in the field (generally hyper!).

Any other suggestions or advice to get her somewhere in the middle?? *lol*

[Walnut]

Could you school her in the field? Maybe if you have a flat area, you could work on her outside of the arena, that way she will not switch off but if you are equally demanding of her you should get some nice stuff out of her!

[Trewsers]

Could you lunge her first? I say this because even if I school Storm and we are working nicely in walk and trot - sometimes if she is too sharp then when we go into canter I have no brakes and the head shoots up like a giraffe!!!! I don't use a particularly strong bit on her - I don't think it would help (but thats just Storm!!!). I find if I take the steam off her first, she is a lot easier and works just as nicely in canter.

[*Grey Gelding*]

haha she sounds like a typical IDXTB - ive got one, hes a gelding - laid back in the school and pretty crazy in the field :)
umm.......i would advise you ask an instructor or someone who knows the horse well if a martingale would be of any use on her?! sometimes they cause more problems than they solve! she may evade the martingale and just put her head up more, i guess there is no harm in trying tho? do you ride her with a flash on? this may help too - i ride my horse with one in the field as it stops him opening his mouth and yanking!
:)

[laura jeanne]

What did you change about yourself when you went into canter? If she was nicely collected and on the bit in trot, going into canter should not have changed anything unless the rider changed. (my opinion anyway). Did you lean forward, look down, change the rein contact, tense up anyplace in your body, etc.?

All the symptoms you mention could be caused by a change in the rider's position and not have anything to do with the bit.

[Centyfield_Mica]

[QUOTE=laura jeanne;1243683]What did you change about yourself when you went into canter? QUOTE]

Im so glad someone else has thought that you might have done something differently too!

If you are unbalanced in the canter then there is a good chance she will be. Try using your seat for brakes and dont let her "whip the rug out from under you" by staying behind her push back. Whether her head is it the air you should be able to shorten the canter stride by lifting your hands, and pushing your wight into you thighs (a good analogy i like to use is when kids slide on their knees at wedding partys). Imagine you are riding a carousel horse and stay upright.

I know all this is very well but when a horse is tanking off with you across a field its hard to think "sit upright....wedding slide...... etc" when you are more bothered about staying alive!!!!!!!!

[cyberpunkgrrl]

Could you school her in the field? Maybe if you have a flat area, you could work on her outside of the arena, that way she will not switch off but if you are equally demanding of her you should get some nice stuff out of her!

I'm attempting to - unfortunately, the field belongs to the riding school that the livery yard is attached to, so we can't "mark out" an arena! We did some nice trotting circles/figure eights and rein changes - it's just in that as soon as I ask for canter she turns into a different horse!

I think she's bit of a ditzy girl really ;)

[cyberpunkgrrl]

haha she sounds like a typical IDXTB - ive got one, hes a gelding - laid back in the school and pretty crazy in the field :)
umm.......i would advise you ask an instructor or someone who knows the horse well if a martingale would be of any use on her?! sometimes they cause more problems than they solve! she may evade the martingale and just put her head up more, i guess there is no harm in trying tho? do you ride her with a flash on? this may help too - i ride my horse with one in the field as it stops him opening his mouth and yanking!
:)

Yus - that was the other thing I remembered actually! She used to have a flash but her owner took it off when riding her in the dutch gag... I'm trying to get lessons but as I can only ride at weekends atm and all the instructors in the yard are busy with riding school lessons!

this is the downside of sharing the facilities ;)

[cyberpunkgrrl]

What did you change about yourself when you went into canter? If she was nicely collected and on the bit in trot, going into canter should not have changed anything unless the rider changed. (my opinion anyway). Did you lean forward, look down, change the rein contact, tense up anyplace in your body, etc.?

All the symptoms you mention could be caused by a change in the rider's position and not have anything to do with the bit.

Yup, I've been thinking of that too! I think it's also a bit psychosomatic - her owner has told me stories of her "tanking off" and stuff, so the moment we go into canter I pre-empt her taking off! I'm hoping to get a lunge lesson on her soon so that I don't have to worry about steering, control and position all at once *lol*

I did notice her trying to evade the bit in trot but realised that she wasn't wearing her flash as usual, so might see if that makes a difference next time.

thanks :)

[cyberpunkgrrl]

[QUOTE=laura jeanne;1243683]What did you change about yourself when you went into canter? QUOTE]

Im so glad someone else has thought that you might have done something differently too!

If you are unbalanced in the canter then there is a good chance she will be. Try using your seat for brakes and dont let her "whip the rug out from under you" by staying behind her push back. Whether her head is it the air you should be able to shorten the canter stride by lifting your hands, and pushing your wight into you thighs (a good analogy i like to use is when kids slide on their knees at wedding partys). Imagine you are riding a carousel horse and stay upright.

I know all this is very well but when a horse is tanking off with you across a field its hard to think "sit upright....wedding slide...... etc" when you are more bothered about staying alive!!!!!!!!

hehe - thanks! I see exactly what you mean and was thinking about the same!
My instinct is to tense up, which makes her tense, then I get unbalanced, which makes her unbalanced etc etc!

Some of it is totally psychosomatic as well becuase her owner has told me about past experiences of her bombing off, etc. so i'm pre-empting it! I'm hoping to get a lunge lesson on her which should help me relax as well without having to remember everything all the time *lol*

Thanks for your help :D